Jack's Talk to Clubs

 I wanted to have Interact Clubs at the Rotary meeting because the Interact Club and Rotary Club working together is beneficial to both. You can help each other on projects on fundraising. It would be great to have Interact Clubs be involved in District Managed grants. So Interactors think of a project that you want to get funded and work with the Rotary club to get Foundation funding.

President  Mark Maloney has chosen Rotary Connects the World as his theme. You may have seen the theme logo.

This means that each of us is connected in our Rotary Clubs, we are connected to our towns through Rotary, we are connected around our state and we are connected worldwide. Rotary Connects the World.

There are three things that RI President Elect Mark will focus on.

Focus

1. Membership

Create new membership models

New paths/models to Rotary membership

Create new Rotary and Rotaract clubs

Membership Committee at every club

What's new here is a recognition that Rotary is very versatile. We have our clubs but each is different.

New models for clubs and for membership are possible and are desireable. Barry Rassin, current RI President

has said that every Rotary Club should have a Rotaract Club. There are young people in our towns who could enjoy and benefit from Rotary. But they need to design their own way of being Rotarians. And we need to give them the space and encouragement to create their version of Rotary. The same could be said for other groups.

2. Involve our Families

We should have family activities and encourage family members to participate in our Rotary projects.

We shall do this in the coming year i.e. family Rotary activities and involvement of families in projects.

3. United Nations

This is the 75th anniversary of Rotary's involvement with the UN. President Elect Mark will

be planning some celebrations.

Membership is so much a part of Mark Malone's focus that I wanted to share a bit about my views on it.

Rotary consists of three essential elements 1) fellowship and friendship. 2) service and 3) a code, the four way test and other principles. There are three members of my club who are near or over 90. They are at almost every meeting because they have friends at the meeting who they want to see. Club members pick them up and help them get to the meetings. They enjoy the friendship. That is a key element of Rotary the friendships we create, in our clubs, in our area and beyond. These friendships are an essential element of Rotary and keep us in our clubs. Service is another essential element. Working together to help our town, people in our town\ or beyond makes us feel good and reinforces the friendship element. Packing meals forThanksgiving, planting flowers in the Spring, building a playscape together and much more are examples of Rotary Service to our towns. An excellent example of Rotary Service was the recent packaging of meals for Haiti in Area 8. Over 150 Rotarians and guests prepared more than 40,000 meals. Fellowship and Service were completely together on that day.The third key element is the Four Way Test which describes how we interact with each other and with the world.

So from this description of Rotary how do we handle membership-some ideas

1) Organize a Community Assessment event. Invite the town leadership, other non-profits and people interested in service. Identify some service projects. Keep track of who comes and invite them to service projects and fellowship events.
2) Have public service projects where we invite people to help us do service.

Keep track of those who want to help, they are potential members. Have public

fellowship events also.Invite those who have helped to come to other events and meetings and then ask them to be members.

3) Once you have a new member do everything you can to encourage her/him to create

friendships in the club within a short time. It has been said that there is a friendship when

the people involved do things together one on one. That's the objective the new member has one or more friendships in the club.

4) Hold fellowship events at different times, different places and invite others. In particular invite the non-members who can't or won't attend your regular meetings. . (Rotary after hours/ dinners instead of lunch, cocktail hour etc.)  Encourage the others who come, to design a Rotary involvement that they are interested in. Make whatever they design a part of your club also. Do this for people under 30 to create a Rotaract club.

Membership video

Some Governors have a project for the District. I am suggesting that each club get involved in STEM locally. Help a robot team, judge at Invention Convention and my daughters' favorite, help your Science teacher. Many Science teachers  use their own money to buy class room equipment for their students. You could help the teacher buy what she/he needs to do a class project. . You'd get to know a teacher and help the school. Sort of a scholarship for a teacher. And a project that one of our clubs, New London, does. A STEM summer camp for Middle School students.  You kick it off and organize it but teachers from your school run the camp. It might be easier than you think. STEM Summer Camp

 So do a STEM project at your schools, locally. I cncourage your club to talk with the school and figure out a way for your club to help with STEM. It will help our students, it will help your club and it will help your schools. My Governors project is that your club do something on STEM, in your community.

And while we're talking about students I want to mention our District Interact Board. This group of students from Interact clubs across our District has run a fund raising dance for the last 3 years. They have raised over $20,000. The first two years they gave the money to Gift of Life and this last year they gave the money to polio. These students organize themselves and also have the responsibility of running events for the leadership of all our Interact Clubs.

The Rotary Foundation District Managed Grants are a great opportunity for your club. Some examples of how clubs have used grants for their town are buying and installing a freezer in their local food bank, installing an aquarium in a quiet area in their school, helping build a pavilion on a beach. Think about what needs in your town could be met with a District Managed Grant from our Foundation.

                                    Every year we have an Awards process which your club can participate in. This year the awards are all based on the RI Presidents Citation and a Governors Award. There is a handout, it's on the website and on the Governors Blog so you can see now what is involved. Every club can win these awards. By that I mean that 57 clubs could win the Presidents citation and 57 clubs could win the Governors Award. The awards are kind of a road map.

                                    Our District Conference next Spring April 24 to 26 will be at Mystic. It will be a blast, more on that later. Your club will have an opportunity to talk about some of the special things you do to inform the other clubs. So put on your calendar that you will talk about your club at the Mystic Conference. There are three speakers committed already. Jeff Cadorette  Jeff Cadorette on Leadership     Stephen Coan of the Mystic Aquarium   Dr. Stephen Coan video   Admiral Sam Cox Director of Naval History Museum   Admiral Cox and the discovery of the Indianapolis          
                                 What should your club do? This Rotary Year.

1. Have a public event/service project at least quarterly. Track who comes and follow up with them.

2. When new members come into your club, have a big installation ceremony and ensure that they become friends, that's friends, with at least one or two members of your club.

3.Work with your Interact club, they will impart energy to your club.

4.Establish a Rotary Day in your town

5. Have  family Rotary events periodically

6. Create an alternative Rotary involvement in your town. Let the newcomers design a Rotary they want to be part of.

7. Do something on STEM